


Unbreakable Bonds

by lunaseemoony



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Babies, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, Romance, Telepathy, Temporary Amnesia, Time Babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 10:49:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6114181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaseemoony/pseuds/lunaseemoony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Doctor suffers a bout of amnesia, relief comes in a way that they never could have imagined.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unbreakable Bonds

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet takes place in the [Foundations](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3763828/chapters/8359027) ‘verse. It’s not strictly necessary to read it for this, but this ficlet has more depth when paired with it.

Alina Tyler was a daddy’s girl through and through. The old adage about a baby girl stealing her father’s heart didn’t apply in this case. Neither of them were under any illusions; the Doctor surrendered his hearts to his daughter the moment he heard her pair humming in his ear through her womb. They were inseparable from the moment he delivered her and cradled her in his arms. The Doctor and his daughter were an item. It even sounded right. He was coiled about her finger like a kite string. Only Rose kept them tethered. Even the TARDIS encouraged them.  

But anyone believing Rose to be upset or left out by it all would be sorely mistaken. Rose never had and never would have another partner that would appreciate her as much as the Doctor did. He made certain she felt not just his love but how grateful he was for his family every day. He rarely spoke the three-word phrase flat out because he never needed to. But for some reason his thanks was different. He’d curl up to her at night after putting their daughter down (third time was usually the ticket) for the evening and whisper his thanks to her for his precious gift. The euphoria and elation newborns’ fathers felt was never lost to the Doctor no matter how old Alina got, Rose learned. 

Alina wasn’t a physical representation of the Doctor and Rose’s love like every other child seemed to be. They’d decided to have a child because it seemed like a good idea. Rose had no intentions of ever leaving the Doctor, she could reproduce, and she wanted to leave a piece of herself behind with him. Mission accomplished. Rose was equally grateful for their daughter’s existence as the Doctor. Alina’s birth lifted from her shoulders the heavy burden of leaving behind a lonely and broken man in her death’s wake. Rose never felt any guilt for loving the Doctor, for _being in love_  with him after she was born. He’d never be alone for so long as they both lived. And watching the pair of them, knowing how inseparable they were, she knew that no matter what happened they’d have each other. 

Alina always ran to Daddy if she was in trouble. Daddy scared away the monsters plaguing her dreams. Daddy was her preferred playmate. Daddy stayed up with her so many nights because like her father, their little Time Lady often didn’t see the need for sleep. Daddy was the first person she’d crawl, waddle and most recently run to after Uncle Jack and his Torchwood friends babysat. He never taught her the word for father in Gallifreyan. To hear his child speak his name in his own tongue was much more heartfelt for the Doctor. She learned to say it around the same time she learned to walk. On both occasions Rose’s almighty Time Lord was reduced to tears. Her first word in English was still Daddy. She chirped and sung it all over the TARDIS and on their travels, like a paper heart chain strung through the universe. 

If he didn’t answer his little girl’s call her first guess (after the obvious) was always it was a game. Excitement coursed through her and turned their toddler into a rabbit in the spring time. It saved their tails more than once when they were in trouble. If Alina panicked she drew attention to them and made everyone anxious. Her second guess was he was asleep (or pretending to sleep). Their toddler was never shy about chastising her mother for waking him up in her presence. “Shh! Daddy’s seepin’,” she’d insist with a waggle of her chubby finger. 

Her third guess was always something was wrong. She was usually right, as in this case. Rose’s lungs burned with anger and her muscles ached with strain as she struggled to haul the Doctor’s limp body back to the TARDIS. All the while she had to assuage two-year-old Alina, offering the empty promise that he was okay. She was never certain of that, and this might have been the day Alina learned it. 

Alina’s cries for her daddy fell silent when she caught sight of the infirmary door. Rose surrendered care to the TARDIS once she’d gotten him onto a gurney. Alina wasn’t a typical child by any means. And though she was only vaguely aware of what that door meant, it was enough to know that Daddy was in trouble. 

This time the promise that the Doctor would be okay came from the TARDIS. And it wasn’t an empty one. But Rose questioned this when he awoke after waiting anxiously at his side with Alina for three hours. After falling and hitting his head as hard as he did Rose expected him to wake up hissing and whimpering, clutching his skull as if his nimble fingers were all that held it in place. She didn’t expect what happened. 

The grinned and clicked his tongue on his teeth. His wink was always crooked, but his smile never was, except for right then. Before he even spoke a pit was already sinking in Rose’s belly. 

“Oh hello!”

The radiance emanating from him despite his pain wasn’t akin to the warmth and familiarity that came with his familial greetings. The Doctor was congenial and charming as always, but surprised to see them. A slight crinkle in his brow was enough to hold back Alina. 

Her toddler, confused, wriggled out of her lap and darted up to the gurney. Like a monkey she climbed up its coral and metals bars with ease while squeaking “hi Daddy!” on repeat. 

The Doctor scrambled up as though his child was a deadly spider, tumbling out of the bed and falling against the tray table. He clawed at it to keep himself upright. His eyes blew wide open, staring at the tiny creature on the bed that was besotted with him. 

Panic sped Rose’s heart up to a gallop. Tension thickened the air and glued her feet to the floor for a moment. She gathered a deep breath and steeled herself. 

“Alina darling, I think Daddy needs more time to rest.” She stepped up and moved to scoop her up. “Why don’t we -” 

Alina yanked her arm away. She wasn’t to be removed from this. Not having it, her tense little body told her. She dug in her heels and stood up on the gurney.

“Daddy!” Alina persisted. After scaring his baby girl into a tantrum already, she was in no mood for games, Rose observed. She _knew_ he heard her, and was clearly awake. He wasn’t fooling her. 

The Doctor’s eyes darted around the room, soaking in his surroundings. If they gave him any answers or relief it didn’t show. If she were to hazard a guess she’d say his hearts were racing too, breaking free during his lapse in control. Rose had changed him into jim jams while Alina napped awaiting his recovery. She could see his chest fluttering like a butterfly’s wings through the thin striped fabric. 

“I’m sorry I think you’re mistaken. I’m flattered though! Really, I am! But I’m pretty sure I’d remember being a dad, don’t you think?” the Doctor replied, a slight crackle in his voice betraying his attempts at politeness. 

Amnesia. Rose brought her hands to her face and rubbed away at the disbelief. She’d take Alina, kicking and screaming, out of the room if she knew what to do. Their clever child wouldn’t stay put for very long, defying every manner of childproofing ever conceived. She’d have precious little time to work out what to do before her toddler would come scampering back into the room insisting this strange man return her father. From what Rose knew, the condition was most likely temporary. At least this was true for humans. Rose’s knowledge of the Doctor’s anatomy was far from encyclopedic. 

Wonder and glee washed over his freckled face when Rose peeled her hands off hers. 

“Aww, look at this place though! Coral walls? Beautiful! Feels like home, doesn’t it? Do you two live here? Is she yours?” 

Rose swallowed a croak in her gullet and stood up straighter. This was _not_ happening. “Yeah. She’s yours too.Your daughter. You don’t... you don’t remember?” 

“You’re certain of that?” 

His chocolate eyes began darting between the two of them. He arched his brow at Rose as he lapped up the sight of her, humming. Rose zipped up her jacket and shook off a slight blush. At least he still found her attractive. 

“She looks just like you,” he noted. 

Rose trapped her lips between her teeth for a couple breaths. Meanwhile Alina was climbing down the gurney to approach him and hug his legs. “You say that a lot. You’ve got, at least I _think_  you’ve got amnesia. Your name’s the Doctor, I’m Rose,” she cast her eyes down at Alina and felt her nose tingle as her eyes glistened with disbelief, “and that’s our daughter Alina.”

“Pretty name.”

“Daddy!” Alina cried, tugging on his brown trousers and jumping at his gangly legs. 

“You might be right, but-”

“Daddy!” 

Heartache trickled into Alina’s voice with each additional cry. In a brief moment of silence their eyes met and Rose’s disbelief turned to devastation when he searched their toddler’s eyes. His brow furrowed in confusion and frustration. Even in his state he couldn’t bear the sight of her like this. Tears fastened bright blonde tresses to cherry cheeks and little fingers became talons on his trousers. She refused to accept this. She wouldn’t. As far as Alina was concerned that was her daddy, and she wasn’t giving up until he could admit it, amnesia be damned. 

“I...” he croaked. “I’m sorry. Really. If I could just...”

“Up!” she demanded.

Somewhere in the lost eyes that searched into Rose’s was the man that she and her daughter loved. Behind all of the confusion, panic, and heartbreak, maybe. It was more than the Doctor’s simply kind soul. His frown of grief seldom made appearances on this face. But she remembered it acutely. It belonged to the man that fathered her child. And that man’s head must have been smarting badly, trying desperately to crawl through the fog of forget. That man was greatly distressed by the sight of their sobbing child. 

“Can I?” he asked, bending down. “May I?” 

“Yeah,” she managed.

The Doctor moved to pull Alina into a hug, but she had other ideas. Her little hands gripped his face like a vice and crawled up to his temples. Surely she didn’t... 

But she did. Alina knew precisely what she was doing. And before Rose could stop her the Doctor was closing his eyes and opening up to her. Alina pressed her face to his and muttered a phrase in Gallifreyan. Their breaths came in puffs. This was dangerous, and Rose was already wondering, if this worked, whether the Doctor would forgive her for letting their tiny daughter use telepathy on him. His mind was not a place for anyone to wander in, much less for a toddler. 

How could Alina even know what to do? How could the Doctor? Maybe it’d be a simple matter if he knew to reach over to her side and tap into her memories. Since he fell unconscious he closed himself off to Rose, so she had no idea what was conspiring between the Doctor and his daughter. All she could do was watch as her heart charged at her chest and her face became a furnace. Interrupting was not an option for fear of hurting either of them if she severed the connection. 

Another whisper in Gallifreyan was Rose’s only cue that it was over. She opened her eyes (then realizing she’d momentarily squeezed them shut) to the Doctor gently peeling Alina’s hands off his temples to pull her into a hug. When he whispered his daughter’s name she wrung her little arms around his neck and clung to him in a tight hug. She soaked his pyjama shirt in tears as he dampened her sunny hair with his own. 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he soothed over her cries. 

It didn’t matter that the incident was nobody’s fault. They weren’t even in any danger. The Doctor had fallen and hit his head too hard. In the end to him it made little difference. Rose approached them and the Doctor raked her into the hug, rocking them both. His presence and warmth slowly trickled back into her mind with the contact. The very idea that he’d terrified their daughter so much and broken her heart for even the briefest of moments struck him a lot harder than the blow to his head. 

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated. 

“You scared me!” Alina cried into his shirt, parroting back their own words to him. Needless to say it was a phrase they’d spoken to their wild child more than once. Even if none of it was his fault this time she didn’t care. As far as she was concerned he deserved to hear it. 

That was the first time Alina used telepathy, proving to both of her parents that she hadn’t just inherited their bullheadedness but their determination as well. It was a simple act, sure. But Rose felt any other child would be too terrified to do anything, let alone come up with a solution on their own. No head wounds, daleks, distance or time itself would come between the Doctor and his daughter. And she made a point of demonstrating this on a regular basis from then on. 


End file.
